I printed my own little Makerbot Minion a while back and was talking with Grog about making him a very simple Biped to test a Biped MRL service with.  As of now I have to keep him tethered via USB until I work out the power issues I was having.  

Below is the basic sketch I have loaded in him. It's mostly the sketch included on the thingiverse page but I also fixed some of their bad math that cause him to walk in a circle rather than straight.  I've hard coded the throttle and steering variables that would normally get set by the 2 channels on the RC input.  I added a Hop() function but I never tested it. It might work, might just make him stand on his "knife edges" or it might just be a good way to make him fall over.

 

// Simple Walk 2
// this sketch is an evolution of simple walking program for the Minion
// it moves towards the directon of estabilshing some basic control
 
// Functions are as follows ... 
/// Rest() Which will start moving the Minion back to a level position but the steering will still be taken into account. Looping on this will most likely be required to come to full rest position.
/// Walk() Which will start a sequence to walk forward or backward and is controlled by the throttle and steering.  A full step sequence may require looping over this function multiple times depending on th value of the throttle.
/// Hop() Which will attempt to make the Minion hop in place from a flat footed position. Effectiveness of the hop will mostly depend on the speed of your servos and the weight of your Minion.
 
#include <Servo.h> 
 
Servo lfoot;  // create servo object to control Left Foot
Servo rfoot;  // create servo object to control Right Foot
Servo lleg;  // create servo object to control Left Leg
Servo rleg;  // create servo object to control Right Leg
 
 
int hip = 90;    // variable to store the hip servo position 
int ankle = 90;    // variable to store the ankle servo position
 
int hipstep = 10;  // degree of movement of the hips
int anklestep = 5;  // degree of movement of ankles
 
int sequence = 0;  // variable to store current state of walking sequence
int walktime = 0;  // variable to store delay untill next step sequence
 
// Here's where we'll keep our channel values
int ch1; //input value for throttle
int ch2; //input value for steering
 
int throttle = 0;
int steering = 0;
 
//Setup commands
void setup() 
  //Blink the LED on startup to detect reset during operation
  int led = 17;
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(led,HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(led,LOW);
 
  pinMode(2, INPUT);// ch1 pins for pulsein to receve from rc remote
  pinMode(3, INPUT);// ch2
  
  //hips.attache(4);
  //waist.attach(5);
  rfoot.attach(6);  // attaches right foot to pin 6
  rleg.attach(7);  // attaches right leg to pin 7
  lfoot.attach(8);  // attaches left foot to pin 8
  lleg.attach(9);  // attaches left leg to pin 9
  
  //get into rest position to start
  rfoot.write(ankle);
  lfoot.write(ankle);
  rleg.write(hip);
  lleg.write(hip);
 
 
//Primaty loop 
void loop() 
  ch1 = pulseIn(2, HIGH, 25000); // Read the pulse width of 
  ch2 = pulseIn(3, HIGH, 25000); // each channel
 
  if(ch1 == 0, ch2 ==0){ // centers input values if pulsein times out, for when remote is disconected
    ch1 = 1400;
    ch2 = 1400;
  }
  
  //throttle = map(ch1, 800, 2000, 0, 20);
  throttle = 11;
  hipstep = throttle;
  anklestep = (throttle / 2);
  
  //steering = map(ch2, 800, 2000, 0, 40);
  steering = 20;
  //  if(throttle == 10){
  //    Rest();
  //  }
  //  else{
  Walk();
  //  }
  
 delay(15);  // delay for servo to get in possiton.  this needs to be replaced with some type of counter function
}
 
 
//Functions
 
void Rest()  //function to return the walker to rest configeration from any possable state
{
  sequence = 0;  //reset the walk sequence
  
  if((ankle >85)&&(ankle <95)) // Need this check in case the ankle is less than 5 degrees from 90 otherwise the ankles will occilate
  {
    ankle = 90;
    rfoot.write(ankle);
    lfoot.write(ankle);
  }
  if(ankle < 90)
  {
    rfoot.write(ankle); 
    lfoot.write(ankle);
    ankle = ankle + 5;
  }
  if ( ankle > 90){
    rfoot.write(ankle); 
    lfoot.write(ankle);
    ankle = ankle - 5;
  }
  if ((hip > (70 + steering - 10))&&(hip < (70 + steering + 10))) // Need this check in case the hips are less than 10 degrees from 70+steering otherwise the hips will occilate
  {
    hip = 70 + steering;
    rleg.write(hip);
    lleg.write(hip);
  }
  if ( hip < (70 + steering)){
    lleg.write(hip);
    rleg.write(hip);
    hip = hip + 10;
  }
  if ( hip > (70 + steering)){
    lleg.write(hip);
    rleg.write(hip);
    hip = hip - 10;
  }
}
 
void Walk() {  //Function to allow the robot to walk forwards and backwards
  
  if(sequence == 0)  // Rotatates both ankles to lift right foot 
  { 
      if(ankle <= 105){      // checks to see if ankle is at 90+15 degrees not 135 degrees
        rfoot.write(ankle); 
        lfoot.write(ankle);
        ankle = ankle + anklestep;
        //lleg.write(hip + steering);
        //rleg.write(hip + steering);
        
        if(steering < 20)
          lleg.write(hip + steering);
        if(steering > 20)
          rleg.write(hip + steering); 
      }
      else{
        if(throttle >= 10){
          sequence = 1;
        }
        else{
          sequence = 3;
        }
      }                      
  } 
  
  if(sequence == 1)  // Rotatates both hips to move right foot  
  {
      if(hip >= 45){  // was 25.  checks to see if hips are at 45 if not they are moved by the amount dictated in hipstep 
         lleg.write(hip);
         rleg.write(hip);
         hip = hip - hipstep;
      }
      else{  //once we reach 45, the sequence number is updated to 2
         if(throttle >= 10){
           sequence = 2;
         }
         else{
           sequence = 0; 
         }     
      }
  }
  
  if(sequence == 2)  // Rotatates both ankles to lift left foot  
  { 
    if(ankle >= 75){    // checks for ankles 90-15 degrees
      lfoot.write(ankle);
      rfoot.write(ankle); 
      ankle = ankle - anklestep;
      //rleg.write(hip + steering);
      //lleg.write(hip + steering);  
      if(steering < 20)
         lleg.write(hip + steering);
 
      if(steering > 20)
         rleg.write(hip + steering);
    }
    else{
         if(throttle >= 10){
            sequence = 3;
         }
         else{
            sequence = 1;
         }      
    }
  }
  
  if(sequence == 3)  // Rotatates both hips to lift right foot 
  { 
    if(hip <= 135){ //was 115
       lleg.write(hip);
       rleg.write(hip);
       hip = hip + hipstep;
    }
    else{
       if(throttle >= 10){
          sequence = 0;
        }
        else{
          sequence = 2;
        }
    }
  }
}
 
void Hop() { //function to attempt a bunny hop in place by rotating the outside edge of both feet down quickly.
  // Ready .....
  lfoot.write(90);
  rfoot.write(90);
  rleg.write(90);
  lleg.write(90);
  delay(15);
  
  // Jump!!
  rfoot.write(0);
  lfoot.write(180);
  delay(15);
  
  // Brace for impact!
  rfoot.write(90);
  lfoot.write(90);
  delay(15);
}
 
The next step is to slap MRLComm on the arduino ProMicro and convert that sketch to Python in MRL. After that it will be a Biped service.

GroG

10 years 5 months ago

I think the "frame" maker is an interesting idea.  In MRL currently the frames are part of Python functions, and Python supports more complexity, but a gui/frame maker might be a nice thing for people not quite comfortable with scripting...  And if your only doing servo positioning it could aid in rapid prototyping.

We already have sliders for Servos & the servo guis allow them to undock and for many of them to be viewable at once. I think this might all be generalized to a multi-purpose Servo Frame Maker service...  albiet rather lame name :)

When I tether him, he tends to have his skull cap off and his brains dragging on the ground behind him.  :)  Zombie Minion!

mehtaatur

10 years 5 months ago

hey kmc,

this bot looks cute :)

have you designed this? do you have the files for printing this??

dwilli9013

10 years 5 months ago

One of us really need to make the eyelid blink on this bot. That would be the final touch.

Cool Beans thanks for sharing Keith.